Hardened
by XylimLinyx
Summary: Everything seemed to stop for a moment. His face showed shock and pain. I wished I could have told him how sorry I was one last time... (I don't own One Piece)


Time froze for a second. I looked up from my chest to see him standing there in shock.

"No!"

He ran towards me as I slowly fell to my knees. Blood began pouring from the wound and I knew I was dying. He knelt next to me, his hand trying to stop the blood from flowing.

"No… Please, no…"

I saw a small tear slide down his cheek. His swords were against his side, lying in the dirt. I raised my hand, letting my power pick the sword up and blocking the sudden attack from behind. It dropped again, the man smashed with the cook's kick.

I coughed. "You have to get up…"

He shook his head hard, like he was trying to clear it. His eyes were blank and I knew he was starting to shut down.

"Zoro, get up…!"

They cleared for a moment. "You… I should have killed that man," he spoke angrily. He slammed one fist into the ground.

"And I… should have used my power…" I smiled weakly at him. "Don't blame yourself."

I coughed harder, blood spattering onto my clothes. _I'm screwed… Even our doctor wouldn't be able to fix this…_ He wasn't going to give up on me, though.

"Chopper!" he yelled.

The small creature ran over and cried when he saw me.

"Don't worry… It's too much to be fixed…"

He glared at me. "You'd better not be giving up on me, Vera."

I tried to smile again. "Since when I have given up easily?"

He almost smiled. The doctor pushed him. "Get back out there and protect us! I'll do what I can for her."

He grabbed his swords after looking at me for another moment. He rushed back out to the battle, a deadly aura growing around him.

"That's one guy… you don't want to piss off…" I joked weakly.

"Stop trying to talk. It'll only waste your energy," the doctor told me stiffly.

I nodded slightly and closed my eyes. _I hope… that I'll either pull through this… or that he'll be able to forgive me…_

"Vera…? Vera…!"

The voice sounded so far away from me. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. _Was this how I was going to die? I'm sorry everyone…_ I could almost feel him trying to wake me now. I wished I had been able to tell him one last time how sorry I was…

* * *

"Damn it!"

Zoro slammed his fist harder into the ground. Everyone was looking worriedly at him.

"Zoro…"

Chopper didn't know what to do. He had tried his hardest, but her heart had stopped so quickly. And she wouldn't come back… A tear rolled down his cheek.

Zoro was holding back his tears, his head leaning against the ground. "You asshole… I thought you said we were going to go to the New World together!"

Nami started to cry. The two girls may have had trouble between them before, but she never would have wished this upon the other girl. Robin was wiping her eyes. She would no longer have someone to look through books with.

Franky had tears streaming down his face. Who would be there to do his "Super" stance with him now? Luffy was crying loudly. He lost the friend who would play all his games.

Usopp was trying to hold his tears back and failing miserably. She would help him practice sniping and he would never be able to see her smiles when he told one of his crazy stories again. Brook had lost all his laughter. He had no one who would sing his silly songs and had lost the one girl who had actually shown him a pair of her underwear.

Sanji leaned against the ship, pain covering his face. He had been so close to her when she got shot. And yet he couldn't save her. Who would be there to help him cook and keep Luffy away from all the food?

And Zoro. He lost the girl who had meant the most to him. She had laughed with him and talked about everything. She stood up for him when Nami had been ready to hit him, and yelled when he was fighting with the cook. She had stayed up all night just to keep him company while he was on lookout duty. He had kissed her only a few nights before. And now she was dead.

He couldn't do it anymore. He clenched his fist and slowly stood up. His eyes were dead, his face was hard. He would practice harder than ever, never opening his heart again. Then maybe he could keep this from ever happening again.


End file.
